They are not ordinary Second-level Gods that can be defeated by non-Divine Beasts!
Baimu drove Hydreigon to chase away the nearby Wild Pokémon, trying to approach them as closely as possible, waiting for the other party to finish everything and gleefully return, then aimed the phone screen at Hoopa and said:
"Please, Hoopa, summon this guy named Zeroth Machine."
"As you wish! Hoopa la-la!"
Hoopa raised its hand and shouted loudly, the Golden Ring on its left horn flew up, quickly enlarging to become a Light Wheel.
In an instant.
The familiar silhouette of Zeroth Machine flew out from the Light Wheel.
"Hmm?"
It looked confused, glancing left and right in a daze, then saw Baimu, Hydreigon, Mawile, and Hoopa.
"..."
It fell silent.
Baimu smiled and said, "Long time no see, I've missed you very much. How have you been recently?"
Hydreigon and Mawile each displayed a taunting demeanor—indeed, they used the Taunt Technique, thereby blocking Zeroth Machine, which might have learned Instant Movement.
Zeroth Machine glanced at Hoopa a few more times, sighed deeply, and said: "Why bother? I said long ago that I am a pacifist, unwilling to harm any life."
"Rest assured, I have no intention of hurting you either, just a precaution."
He calmly said, "I specifically 'invited' you over this time, hoping you'd talk to Dr. Akihabara. To be honest, I didn't want to get involved in your business.
"But you took the initiative to sway Porygon II against us, and I am quite indebted to Dr. Akihabara, so I really couldn't stand by."
Zeroth Machine: "..."
It never expected Baimu could summon a Mythical Pokémon like Hoopa.
If it had known in advance, even if it could turn Porygon II into an ally, it wouldn't dare casually provoke Baimu.
Could promising never to come for Porygon II again in the future... be useful?
Probably not.
"Talking is useless — this answer is surely hard for you to accept, if you think sitting down and talking can solve everything, then please go ahead."
Zeroth Machine understood that in front of Hoopa, Substitute was nothing but an ornament.
The other party found its true self immediately, and hiding away was meaningless.
Its voice grew colder, "I will show you with facts just how absurd your thoughts really are!"
"Roar-screech..."
Hydreigon looked unhappy; it clearly detested Zeroth Machine, who once criticized the bond between Trainer and them.
Honestly, not rushing to spit a Dragon Breath at it earlier was already restraining behavior.
Mawile yawned, appearing indifferent; it showed no interest in the conflict between Zeroth Machine and Dr. Akihabara, and if the Trainer hadn't been concerned, it would have gone back to the Pokéball to sleep already.
Hoopa whispered by Baimu's ear, "It seems upset, Xiaobai, are you going to capture it?"
"Of course not, I just want to resolve the issue between it and Dr. Akihabara soon, so the doctor can quickly get involved in promoting Porygon and developing the Porygon phone."
He whispered back.
A question mark danced across Hoopa's forehead; it didn't understand.
Zeroth Machine, on the other hand, understood; it dismissed the matter of promoting Porygon but had a strange expression upon hearing about the Porygon phone.
With frequent contact with the internet, using the internet as a base to obtain funds and rocket construction materials, it knew full well that smartphones would integrate into human lives.
If Porygon could be made into a phone, No.1 Machine's dream might really come true!
With this thought, it looked at Baimu with envy.
Inspiration.
Perhaps it's a talent unique to humans, though it perfected the evolution of Porygon II to Porygon Z, and then through that developed a near-clone Substitute.
But in fact, it continued to imitate through knowledge obtained by absorbing ample human knowledge online.
It occasionally wondered if Porygon could indeed survive as a new lifeform on another planet...
The Light Wheel brightened.
Zeroth Machine's attention was drawn over.
Then.
A young man with an Afro hairstyle and round-frame glasses, with a bit of a beer belly, ran out followed by a Porygon Z and two Porygon IIs.
The two Porygon IIs seemed to sense something, preparing alerts indicating beep-boop sounds beside Zeroth Machine.
"Zeroth Machine! I've finally found you!"
Dr. Akihabara shouted, then saw Baimu and several Pokémon, puzzled, "Huh? Baimu? Why are you here? Did Zeroth Machine catch you?"
Baimu smiled, "Not at all, Doctor. Both you and Zeroth Machine are 'invited' here by Hoopa at my request."
"Hoopa! Super amazing!"
Hoopa puffed out its chest, proud.
Dr. Akihabara paused, then became ecstatic, "Why didn't you tell me earlier that you have such a powerful helper? Watch me deal with Zeroth Machine—"
"Wait."
He stopped the doctor from pulling out a Pokeball, then looked at Zeroth Machine with an indifferent expression, "Doctor, doing this will only aggravate Zeroth Machine's rebellious mindset.
"I assume your purpose in finding Zeroth Machine isn't to lock it in a Pokéball for life, right? Why not take this opportunity to have a thorough talk, clear up unnecessary misunderstandings, and find ways to resolve it fully?"
Dr. Akihabara heard this and scratched his messy hair, complaining:
"Baimu, I think I made it very clear before; Zeroth Machine is committing crimes! This isn't a matter that sitting down and talking can resolve!"
"Ha, see, is this person even worth reconciling with?"
Zeroth Machine suddenly gave a cold laugh.
The other Porygon Z, No.1 Machine, stepped forward and said: "That's because you did something wrong! You not only did something wrong but refused to admit it!"
"Pory-pory!"
The two Porygon IIs chimed in.
Zeroth Machine replied: "I'm merely taking some unrighteous gains; instead of having those bad people use them to harm humans and Pokémon, it's better if I use them to make rockets! I don't consider this wrong."
"Unrighteous gains defined by you? You also don't have the right to manage them! Randomly accessing Pokémon Bank's system is a crime too!"
No.1 Machine argued with it.
They went at it, each not yielding to the other.
Had Baimu not been present, they would likely start fighting immediately.
With a headache, he rubbed his temples, Hoopa also covered its ears from the noisiness, and Mawile clenched its fists several times.
Hydreigon bared its teeth, and upon seeing the Trainer's gesture, its eyes shone.
"Roar loudly!"
"Roar—screech!!"
The three-headed dragon unfolded its wings and roared skyward; the visible black ripples traversed the horizon, making the entire deserted island seem like it would earthquake.
Boom!!
Amidst the terrifying noise.
Dr. Akihabara and the group, along with Zeroth Machine, all kept silent, directing their gaze towards it.
Baimu pressed down on Hydreigon's head and snapped his fingers at the shadow.
Gengar emerged from it, then took out a set of folding tables and chairs, a teapot, and various foods for a picnic.
"Let's sit down and talk while eating; don't just focus on blaming one another. Your main goal today is to clarify your own needs, exchange information, and seek possibilities for reconciliation and compromise."
He opened his hands and calmly said: "If resolving it becomes impossible, I won't meddle, and you can carry on according to your ideas."
Dr. Akihabara, No.1 Machine, and Zeroth Machine exchanged glances, each coming to one side of the opened folding table.
Fortunately.
The attitude was quite satisfactory.
Baimu acted as a temporary mediator, pouring tea for each side, his hand gesturing towards Dr. Akihabara: "Please narrate your demands."
"My demand is — Zeroth Machine returns the money it obtained through illegal means, goes back with me to the lab, and awaits Officer Jenny's handling!"
The doctor said, extremely upright.
Zeroth Machine attempted to speak, but Baimu raised a hand to stop it.
He asked the doctor, "Are your demands limited to that, have you considered what comes after?"
"After?"
Dr. Akihabara paused.
"Exactly, no matter how Officer Jenny processes Zeroth Machine, other unresolved issues remain between you two. If Zeroth Machine faces punishment or goes to jail, once it's over, will you offer it freedom or support its dreams?"
Baimu presented two crucial questions.
"..."
Dr. Akihabara fell into thought.
He then looked at Zeroth Machine, "It's your turn to speak."
"Riding a rocket to space, establishing a new home for Porygon on a new planet." Zeroth Machine succinctly recapped, then suddenly looked at Hoopa: "If you could take me to another planet, I'd gladly return that money."
"Huh?"
Hoopa looked puzzled and confused.